Our Photographers

Russ de Ment, Lynn Gormley & Don Johnson

Photography is art. It’s as simple as that. Each of these three top-notch photographers brings their own unique artistic expertise to the page, whether capturing people, landscapes, objects, or something else entirely. Here, Russ de Ment, Lynn Gormley, and Don Johnson tell you in their own words about their experience with the medium.

Russ de Ment

“My interest in photography began in the early ‘80s. Barely a teenager, I would count the number of months I’d have to save my five dollar per month allowance to buy a fancy (so I thought) Canon Snappy-S. By today’s standards it wasn’t much of a camera, and more camera than I needed at the time; however I felt it would allow me to capture the kinds of images I was interested in.

I was an early adopter of the world of digital photography, starting when cameras could only produce a 320×240 pixel image. It was hardly enough detail to tell what the camera was pointed at, but wow! In 1995 I was sending images across the world via email to my family back home in Boise.

Today, Treasure Valley Image is best known in the real estate community for imaging homes and commercial properties. While it is a business for me, I haven’t given up the hobby. In my personal circles I’m known for capturing images of places and things that leave viewers in awe. In the evenings, I can often be found connecting a DSLR body to a large computer guided telescope and capturing images of planets, nebulae and other wonders in the cosmos; while another camera sits on a stationary tripod capturing very wide-angle time-lapse images of the stars gliding across the night sky.”

Lynn Gormley

“For some reason, I prefer to photograph people rather than the gorgeous landscapes of the Teton Valley. I guess I love people. A friend asked, or rather insisted, I take her daughter’s wedding photos and I was hooked! I loved meeting all the people I photographed and making lifelong friends with people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. I love incorporating the scenery in many of my images, and recording that the world where we live really is beautiful and we are lucky to be a part of it.

Aside from photographing gorgeous weddings, I love portraits, including seniors and families, but my favorites are contemporary glamour portraits. So many women experience self-loathing and even disgust with themselves, always feeling that they are not good enough. A good photographer can show a woman what the world sees when they look at her and how the people she loves looks at her; beautiful, inside and out.”

Don Johnson

“I grew up steeped in cameras and darkrooms but it was a fortuitous photography workshop that opened my eyes to real opportunity. Howard Huff, the beloved Boise State College (pre-BSU) photographic arts professor, had somehow managed to attract acclaimed visionary Jerry Uelsmann to present a two-day photo montage workshop. Uelsmann’s groundbreaking works were shaking the photography world, and witnessing magic emerge in the darkroom with the master himself was life-altering. I left BSC shortly thereafter and enrolled in Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara.

My varied career took me from a California advertising agency to business management with Morrison Knudsen, and cameras traveled with me everywhere. These days, my professional time is split between portrait and fine art work with Arrowrock Photography, large event photography and skills training with Sawtooth Photo Pros, and freelance editorial assignments.

Beautiful light, uncluttered canvases, clean lines, and compelling subjects are trademark features of an Arrowrock Photography print. Blended textures and artistic elements are often added to enhance ambience while avoiding the current instant gratification trend; each piece ripens in its own time.”